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COVID-19 – Update on trade and markets in ACP countries and the EU for horticultural products
Many countries have put in place special measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). These measures, as well as changes in food purchasing habits, have an impact on trade. In addition, concerns are mounting for the health and livelihoods of the workers who produce, deliver and sell our food worldwide. COLEACP remains on standby to keep all stakeholders in the horticultural trade informed about the latest major news on the evolution of the national, regional and international markets.To provide easier access to the various news items, we are organising the information in five main sections: DOMESTIC, REGIONAL, INTERNATIONAL TRADE LOGISTICS HORTICULTURAL PRODUCTION & PROCESSING EXAMPLES OF COLEACP SUPPORT POLICY RESPONSES
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Training for Africado on HACCP methodology
As part of COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme, a Kenyan expert provided remote training to Africado, one of the biggest avocado producers in the north of Tanzania. The 5-day training on HACCP methodology, within the Food Safety and Hygiene theme, involved live-streamed sessions as well as regular homework for participants.
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COLEACP and NPPOs share the results of an internal audit system
A recent e-meeting with NPPOs focused on setting up an internal audit system, supported by COLEACP’s Fit For Market SPS programme. The internal audit system relates to support for the preparation and implementation of dossiers (systemic approaches) submitted to the EU’s DG SANTE, with regard to the requirements of the new EU Plant Health Regulation for control of quarantine pests on certain fruit and vegetables.The meeting was attended by Directors and representatives of NPPOs from many countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe ... as well as a representative of the International Plant Protection Convention. The interactive session encouraged exchanges of information and experience between participants and with the COLEACP team. Other e-meetings will be proposed to our NPPO partners in the following weeks.
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COLEACP's "Guides to Good Practice" development
COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme is providing training to local experts in developing horticultural sector Good Practice Guides with value chain stakeholders, to support compliance with SPS standards. Local experts are benefiting from a three-part training course to master the many and varied hard and soft skills that they will need.Following on from successful completion of online training (Phase 1), yesterday we held the inception meeting for Phase 2 - training will begin next week to strengthen the experts' capacity to develop and structure a Guide through improved project management and communication skills. Phase 3 will involve personalised coaching during the process of actually developing a Good Practice Guide. The first three Guides are planned for avocado and peas/beans (#Kenya) and capsicum (#Uganda).
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NExT Kenya: coaching Kenyan flower companies on FCM management
The Kenya Flower Council, in collaboration with the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK), Fresh Produce Consortium Kenya (FPC-Kenya), Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), and COLEACP’s Fit For Market SPS and NExT Kenya programmes have set up a series of regional training/sensitisation forums for all producers across the country, aiming at a common approach across the industry to help drastically reduce interceptions of false codling moth (FCM) on roses exported to Europe. Events were organised in Mount Kenya, Naivasha, Eldoret and Nariobi and reached out to 170 flower companies.These events began in January 2020 with an awareness-raising event for company CEOs, followed by the development of an improved FCM management protocol for roses for technical staff and regional peer-to-peer learning sessions.Currently, eight companies that have had repeated interceptions, located across the four regions mentioned above, are benefiting from in-situ coaching to enable them to correctly implement the FCM protocol developed earlier by the agronomists. At this stage, very encouraging feedback was shared by Mr. Johnston Mulary, Advocacy Officer for KFC, who reports that the two farms already visited are very satisfied with the coaching and already look forward to the follow-up visit expected in 3 months. In addition, the FCM management protocol for roses, shared by KFC with all its members, has been very well received as an on-farm training resource.
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Impacts of Covid-19 on the horticultural sector in Sierra Leone
COLEACP’s surveys in the early months of the pandemic aimed to gather first-hand information on the impact of Covid-19 on operators of horticultural businesses, and assess how support from COLEACP and other partners could best be redirected as a response. These were not intended to be systematic surveys – respondents were self-selecting, and the operators taking part varying greatly in size and operation. But the results provide an illuminating qualitative snapshot of the key impacts of Covid-19 to date, and have been used to inform COLEACP’s and partner organisations’ priorities going forward.In June 2020, COLEACP conducted a survey of its members in the horticultural sector of Sierra Leone. The three responding companies are in the fresh production and export sector (mainly peppers, leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes and yams, also fruits such as mango and passionfruit). The companies are active on local and European Union markets.The issues identified as having the highest impacts were disruptions to domestic logistics, cargo costs and limited air freight options.Sales volumes had changed from the companies’ initial projections: all three companies said that orders were reduced by over 75% during the period March–May. All three reported cashflow challenges, particularly to cover overheads and payments for inputs. However, while two companies reported that prices had fallen compared with the same period in 2019, one company had seen prices rise.Only one of the three companies had access to an online platform to market its produce. All three said they were still working to identify potential alternative markets; current mitigation activities included selling more on domestic markets, and processing fresh produce.All three companies said they were unable to guarantee markets to their outgrowers, and two were scaling down new planting schedules. One company had reduced casual workers by 75% and the other two had stopped employing casual workers. All three companies had laid off some permanent staff, and one had to close for a period of more than 7 days.All of the companies said no direct government support was available to them; one said that it had benefited from delayed payments of taxes and utility bills.Covid-19 measures recommended by the World Health Organization were understood and applied by the companies on-farm, but slightly less so at packhouse and outgrower levels.All three companies said that their main problems were financial constraints, and placed cashflow management at the top of their priorities for support. Contingency planning for fresh produce operators, business negotiation skills, and more information on Covid-19-related procedures for farming and packhouse operations were also identified as high priorities.
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Survey results: Impacts of COVID-19 on the horticultural sector in Zimbabwe
COLEACP’s surveys in the early months of the pandemic aimed to gather first-hand information on the impact of Covid-19 on operators of horticultural businesses, and assess how support from COLEACP and other partners could best be redirected as a response. These were not intended to be systematic surveys – respondents were self-selecting, and the operators taking part varying greatly in size and operation. But the results provide an illuminating qualitative snapshot of the key impacts of Covid-19 to date, and have been used to inform COLEACP’s and partner organisations’ priorities going forward. Key points: 45% of respondents saw orders reduced by more than 50%, and a significant percentage were not able to honour existing contracts. 45% reported that prices were lower than in March–May 2019, although 27% reported higher prices than in 2019. 72% of companies had reduced the number of casual workers they employed, with half of those companies ceasing to employ casual workers altogether. In June, COLEACP conducted surveys to learn from our members and partners in the horticultural sector about the impacts of the current health and economic crisis throughout March–May. The survey was carried out with the assistance of ZimTrade, the national trade development and promotion organisation. Eleven companies responded, and the main crops affected are berries, sugar snaps, green beans, French beans and sweet potatoes. Export companies reported a big impact on their markets in Europe; the local Zimbabwean market is also affected for the vast majority of respondents. Food service and wholesale markets have been badly affected, while retail has stayed strong. Most companies reported reduced market demand from prospective clients and reduced orders from existing supply contracts. 45% of respondents saw orders reduced by more than 50%. No company experienced increased market demand, and a significant percentage were not able to honour existing contracts. 45% reported that prices were lower than in March–May 2019, but 27% reported higher prices than in 2019. Companies are facing cashflow challenges, which mostly cause difficulties in covering overheads costs and affect the ability to purchase enough inputs for the coming production season. Disturbance to domestic logistics, causing limited supply and market demand for fresh produce, was clearly a major factor. More than half of the companies report having sold more on domestic markets during the crisis, but most companies were still identifying potential alternative markets. One positive spin-off was establishing a retail store to continue supply. Unsold produce was mostly donated to employees, but sometimes went to waste or was used as compost. Two companies have started up processing, making juice, banana chips and dried vegetables. Companies used social media (Facebook and WhatsApp) to sell produce online, but no better equipped online platform is available. The companies that use outgrowers had reduced order quantities from them, as they were not able to guarantee a market for their produce. One company reported ceasing to source from more than 20 outgrowers with whom they usually work. The crisis also had a major impact on casual workers, with 72% of companies reducing the numbers employed; half of those companies stopped employing casual workers altogether. Companies did employ workforce protection measures (face masks; social distancing measures; etc.) and implement WHO recommendations at packhouse and production levels, but did not extend these practices to outgrowers. Most of the companies were not receiving any government support. Difficulties cited included lack of funds to pay wages, limited access to foreign currency, unstable and unpredictable working capital, police road blocks, and cash payments making it difficult to respect social distancing. Also mentioned was a pre-existing rural bias about the virus, with some feeling that the remoteness of the farm, away from the city, meant the virus was unlikely to be spread to them and so that containment measures should not apply to them. Suggested support actions include lobbying for export support measures such as more flights to Zimbabwe; support to farmers to reduce post-harvest losses using solar drying technologies, packaging and value addition; helping to educate farmers to be flexible regarding payment terms and to open accounts for payment; links with financial institutions to access resources to boost working capital; links to regional markets; and capacity building through training, including on value addition (in particular on drying vegetables and safe packaging), utilising sustainable and smart technologies along the value chain, and gathering market intelligence and data analysis to connect better with domestic and global markets.
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E-workshop on the implementation of an internal audit system
As part of #COLEACP's Fit For Market SPS programme, a e-workshop on “Implementation of an internal audit system” was held on 23 September. The virtual session gathered NPPO internal audit managers from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zimbabwe. During the workshop, facilitated by the expert Samuel Muchemi with participation by COLEACP's Regional Programme Managers, the country representatives shared their experiences and the status of their country's system, along with challenges and the way forward. Before the workshop, the internal audit managers had the opportunity to benefit from coaching support from the #COLEACP expert.
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Impacts of Covid-19 on the horticultural sector in Rwanda
COLEACP’s surveys in the early months of the pandemic aimed to gather first-hand information on the impact of Covid-19 on operators of horticultural businesses, and assess how support from COLEACP and other partners could best be redirected as a response. These were not intended to be systematic surveys – respondents were self-selecting, and the operators taking part varying greatly in size and operation. But the results provide an illuminating qualitative snapshot of the key impacts of Covid-19 to date, and have been used to inform COLEACP’s and partner organisations’ priorities going forward.In June 2020, COLEACP conducted a survey of its members in the Rwandan horticultural sector. The five responding companies are active in the fresh production and export sector (mainly French beans, pineapple, avocado, passion fruit, mushroom, sweet potatoes, eggplant, banana and chillies), and in processed products. All participating companies market their products on both international and regional markets, and one also sells its products on the local market.Sales volumes had changed from the companies’ initial projections: during the period March–May two of the companies saw losses on their orders of 50–75%, and one company saw losses of 25–50%. One company reported losses under 25%, and one experienced no impact.However, three companies reported that prices were similar to the same period in 2019 and one company received higher prices than 2019; only one company said prices were lower than in 2019.The main problems encountered by companies were the limited airfreight options to main destination markets and the high cargo costs.Regarding alternative markets, two companies were selling more on domestic markets and one company had processed some of its fresh produce. Two companies had not developed any alternative markets in response to the crisis. Just one of the five companies said it had access to onine platforms to market its products (Yego and Garden of Eden).Covid-19 measures – frequent hand washing, distancing, not shaking hands – are generally known and understood by most employees of the companies. Despite the lack of financial means and restrictions on movements, all the companies were able to implement measures to cope with Covid-19 that allow them to continue their operations at production, outgrower level and packhouse levels.
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COLEACP's Fit For Market programme in action in Rwanda
SPICES RWANDA Ltd is a Rwandan company which produces and exports dried African Birds Eye Chilli. The company has implemented a food safety management system to comply with good hygiene practices within its processing unit. As part of its Fit for Market programme, COLEACP is supporting the company to strengthen this system and fully apply the HACCP method (hazard analysis and control of critical points).
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Impacts of Covid-19 on horticultural SMEs in Ethiopia
COLEACP’s surveys in the early months of the pandemic aimed to gather first-hand information on the impact of Covid-19 on operators of horticultural businesses, and assess how support from COLEACP and other partners could best be redirected as a response. These were not intended to be systematic surveys – respondents were self-selecting, and the operators taking part varying greatly in size and operation. But the results provide an illuminating qualitative snapshot of the key impacts of Covid-19 to date, and have been used to inform COLEACP’s and partner organisations’ priorities going forward.In June 2020, COLEACP conducted a survey of its members in the Ethiopian horticultural sector. The three responding companies are active in the fresh production and export sector, mainly strawberries and fresh herbs.All participating companies usually market their products on the international and regional markets (European Union and Middle East).During the period of the survey (March–May), two respondents saw losses on their orders up to 25%, and one company experienced losses of 25–50%.However, two companies reported that prices were similar to those received in the same period in 2019, although one company said prices had fallen.The main problems encountered by companies were disturbed domestic logistics, limited supply of fresh produce, high cargo costs and limited airfreight options to main destination markets.In response to the Covid-19 crisis, two of the companies were selling more on domestic markets. One company had processed some of their products; all three were still identifying potential markets to sell off their produce.Covid-19 measures – frequent hand washing, distancing, not shaking hands – were generally known and understood by most employees of the companies. Despite the lack of financial means and restrictions on movements, all the companies were able to implement measures to cope with Covid-19 that allowed them to continue their operations at production (on-farm) and packhouse levels.
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Impacts of Covid-19 on the horticultural sector in Uganda
COLEACP’s surveys in the early months of the pandemic aimed to gather first-hand information on the impact of Covid-19 on operators of horticultural businesses, and assess how support from COLEACP and other partners could best be redirected as a response. These were not intended to be systematic surveys – respondents were self-selecting, and the operators taking part varying greatly in size and operation. But the results provide an illuminating qualitative snapshot of the key impacts of Covid-19 to date, and have been used to inform COLEACP’s and partner organisations’ priorities going forward. Key points:33% of respondents saw their orders reduced by more than 75%, 42% said orders were reduced by less than 50%, and 17% reported no impact.70% of companies said cashflow challenges had affected their ability to cover overheads.61% of respondents had employed fewer casual workers than usual, with 15% ceasing to employ them altogether due to the crisis. In June, COLEACP conducted surveys to learn from our members and partners in the horticultural sector about the impacts of the current health and economic crisis throughout March–May. The survey was carried out with the assistance of the Uganda Fruits and Vegetables Exporters and Producers Association (UFVEPA). Thirteen companies responded, and the main crops affected chillies, avocado, sweet potato and aubergine. The markets affected by respondents are mainly international (EU and Middle East), with three companies reporting that local markets were also impacted. The majority reported reduced market demand, although two companies reported increased demand. The supply of fresh produce seemed not to be disturbed too much, but limited airfreight options, high cargo costs, disturbances to domestic logistics and limited market demand had a big negative impact. Most companies reported reduced orders from existing supply contracts. 33% of respondents saw their orders reduced by more than 75%, and 8% by 50–75%. 42% saw orders reduced by less than 50%, and 17% reported no impact. Nine out of 13 companies reported big losses in revenue, but three companies had seen their revenue increase. There was no clear impact on prices, with about one third of respondents reporting increased prices and a quarter experiencing lower prices. The majority of respondents (69%) were still identifying potential markets for their reduced market demand; some companies had begun processing produce. Many companies reported that produce went to waste, was sold at lower prices, was donated, dumped or used as manure in the garden. According to the respondents, no online sales platforms are available in Uganda for fruit and vegetables. Cashflow challenges mostly affected the ability to cover overheads (70% of companies). Half of the respondents reported difficulties in covering payments to outgrowers, commitments to financial institutions (credit, loans, etc), and challenges in covering freight payments and inputs for new production cycles. Half of the companies had taken no measures regarding permanent staff. Five companies had to lay off permanent staff (between 2 and 10 people per company), and four had reduced staff wages. Three companies had to close down the business. 61% of respondents had employed fewer casual workers than usual, with 15% ceasing to employ them altogether due to the crisis. Half of the companies reported that they were not able to guarantee a market for outgrowers, or were unable to pay them. 30% of the companies said that their outgrower base is scaling down the planting schedule. However, 20% of the companies reported an increased supply from outgrowers. Companies did employ workforce protection measures (face masks; social distancing measures; etc.) and implement WHO recommendations at packhouse and production levels. Almost all companies extended these good practices to outgrowers. Most of the companies reported receiving no support from the government. The only support mentioned was clearing of consignments and field inspections. Suggestions for support include regular updates on export guidelines and market requirements; lobbying for access to finance; information on access to markets and facilitation of market linkages; technical training and digital learning.